‘Michael Ballack is my idol, he gave everything for the team’ - Chelsea's Andre Schurrle

Most youngsters want to emulate their footballing idols but few have done so quite as precisely as Andre Schurrle.

Growing up in south-west Germany, 12-year-old Schurrle decided he wanted to become a footballer after watching Michael Ballack almost single-handedly drag his country to the 2002 World Cup Final.

Having come through the ranks at Mainz, Schurrle was offered the chance to join Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2011. With Ballack anchoring midfield after returning from Chelsea, Schurrle did not have to think twice.

Two years later, Chelsea — where Ballack had spent four years — made an £18million bid for Schurrle, and the move was sealed when the master introduced his apprentice to Jose Mourinho and explained it was time for him to head to Stamford Bridge.

Now Schurrle hopes to produce something similar to Ballack on the international stage, with Germany one of the favourites to lift the World Cup in Rio.

The end of his first season may have been “very disappointing” as Chelsea missed out on all the major honours but Schurrle believes he can shine in Brazil, having had the assistance of a few pep talks from the most important influence on his career.

“Michael is my idol and when he played here at Chelsea I watched every single match,” said Schurrle. “Of course, they are good footsteps for me to follow in and we are almost the same [in career development]. He was one of the biggest German midfielders of all time, maybe the best.

“I had the pleasure to play in the national team with him and at Leverkusen. That was really big for me, it helped me a lot. We are still in touch, we text every month and he wishes me luck and helps me a lot by giving me tips. He is a really big key in my career.

“My biggest World Cup memories are from 2002 and the semi-final where Michael scored and we got to the final. He had got a yellow card and knew he would be suspended for the final but he gave everything for the team. You saw his spirit and that was very impressive.

“I was starting to love football then, starting to see how it was played and have my idols — and Michael was amazing in that tournament.”

Yet if Schurrle is to eat into Ballack’s total of 13 major honours this year, it will have to be with Germany rather than Chelsea.

Icon: Schurrle watched every game Michael Ballack played for Chelsea

At one point there was talk of a Double but the Blues’ season ended disappointingly as they finished third in the Premier League and were well beaten by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.

Schurrle believes Mourinho has made him “a much better player” after telling the 23-year-old to spend more time in the gym but he admits the season can only be considered a failure.

Yet with one or two new arrivals — Chelsea being strongly linked with Atletico’s Diego Costa — Schurrle believes the sky is the limit.

“Will we go into next season believing we can win every trophy? Of course,” says Schurrle. “You go into a season and you want to win everything if you are Chelsea FC.

“I don’t want to talk about other players or speculate about who is coming to the club but I’m sure the manager will do the right thing for the team and we will be stronger next season.

“I will watch the Champions League Final but I won’t cheer for any team there. Atletico deserved to go to the final as they were the better team at Stamford Bridge.

“They are a strong team and have good players, both individually and as a team. They are physical but they can play and they love to have the ball.”

But what makes Schurrle’s eyes light up is the prospect of his first trip to Brazil. There will be a strong London influence on the German side, with Arsenal trio Mesut Ozil, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski all selected but the size of the capital means they have not spent much time discussing their trip to South America.

“We don’t really keep in touch,” he says of Arsenal’s German contingent. “I am in south-west London with Chelsea and they are north. It’s a long way. Everybody has a lot of matches and in your free time you want to be with your friends and family. But I know we will have one goal this summer — to win a World Cup together.”

So what should we expect of a Germany side knocked out of Euro 2012 by Italy in the semi-finals? According to Schurrle, quite a lot.

“I hope we can expect something big,” he says. “Our team are much stronger than 2012. We have many offensive players and we can score at any time.

“I expect Brazil to be our biggest opponents. They are at home and the way they won the Confederations Cup last summer was impressive. They connected with their fans and played with their hearts.

“I’ve spoken to the Brazilians [David Luiz, Oscar, Willian and Ramires] at Chelsea and of course they are confident they will win. I hope we can do something different.”

If they do then Schurrle will finally have achieved something that Ballack never managed.

*Andre Schurrle was appearing at a photoshoot to celebrate the launch of WATCH_DOGS, the highly anticipated and first true next-gen video game from Ubisoft, out to own on May 27 on PlayStation®4, Xbox One, Xbox 360®, PlayStation®3, and Windows PC.